(Lacanau, France) Durban surfer Travis Logie has finished second in the six star rated Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) Soöruz Lacanau Pro in Lacanau, France, taking home US$10,000 and 2188 WQS ratings points for his effort. In clean three foot waves, the 30 year old Durbanite put on a great display of precision backhand surfing as he took on French upstart and WQS number eight Joan Duru (19) in the two man final. Logie's second place elevates him from twelfth on the WQS ratings up to tenth, strengthening his chances of qualifying for the 2010 ASP Dream Tour.
Logie had been in great form throughout the Soöruz Lacanau Pro finding the clean three to four foot conditions much to his liking and dispatching of some big names en route to the final, among them Australian Blake Thornton, current WQS number five Patrick Gudauskis (USA) and seasoned WCT campaigner Jihad Khodr (Brazil). In his quarter-final heat against 2008 Quiksilver Pro Durban runner-up Austin Ware (USA), Logie highlighted his position as one of the event's top surfers by posting the second highest heat score of the event - 18.24 out of a possible 20 - to eliminate the classy American.The final saw the experience of Logie come up against the youthful enthusiasm and energy of new-comer Duru, a surfer that has exploded onto the world tour and is currently lying eighth on the WQS ratings. Surfing in front of his home crowd Duru started the heat out with a bang, paddling into a walled up right-hander in the second minute of the 35 minute final, and pulled off four impressive backhand turns to secure a 7.33 out of a possible 10 and take an early lead.
Ever the seasoned professional, Logie bided his time, waiting until the eighth minute before replying to Duru's challenge as he posted a 6.50. The score combined with an earlier throw away score of Logie's - a 1.83 - was enough to give the Durbanite a slender lead over his French counterpart. But Duru was quick to answer back, posting a 6.00 in the tenth minute to usurp Logie's lead.
Fifteen minutes into the heat, Logie found himself still in second and requiring only a 6.84 to put himself back in the lead, but the next exchange was to prove the turning point in the final. Having just paddled into a left-hander and kicked out, Duru found himself in the perfect position for the biggest wave of the heat, a solid four foot wall of water that was lined up across the Lacanau sandbank. Duru took off, banked off the bottom and executed a radical backhand vertical move under the breaking lip, before disappearing into the exploding foamball. Out of sight for several seconds, the crowd on the beach held their breath, thinking the Frenchman had fallen. But as he emerged from the foam the wave continued to wall up and Duru worked it down the line as the hapless Logie could only look on.
"That wave changed everything," said Logie after the contest. "Everything was pretty evenly balanced until Joan got that wave, and he was quite lucky to get it because he'd just kicked out of a left and was in the perfect place for it. I think whoever got that wave would have won the heat, and as it is Joan got it."
The judges were impressed by Duru's selection and use of the wave, awarding him a near perfect 9.00 score and pushing him well into the lead, as Logie now required a massive 9.83 to go ahead of his rival. Logie proved a fighter to the end, posting a 7.23 in the 17th minute to reduce his required score, and backed this up again with an 8.07 in the 23d minute to further narrow Duru's lead. But as the timer ran down Logie found himself still short of Duru's score, and in a last ditch effort paddled into a small left with jut ten seconds to go. Racing down the line Logie flung himself into a huge aerial move but unfortunately went down and failed to post a counting score. A dejected Logie left the water with a heat score of 15.30, a mere 1.17 points behind the victorious Frenchman.
"I'm happy with the way I surfed, Joan just got better waves than me and surfed really well," said a gracious Logie in an interview after the final. "The waves weren't as good in the final as they were this morning, but Joan's been surfing really well the whole event and congratulations to him for a great win."
Photo Caption:Durban's Travis Logie throws a huge rooster-tail of spray as he executes a stylish backhand cutback on a clean right-hand wave on his way to second place in the Soöruz Lacanau Pro in Lacanau, France, today. Logie placed second to France's Joan Duru (19), walking away with US$10,000 in prize money and 2,188 ratings points for his runner-up finish, boosting him to tenth on the ASP WQS ratings. Photo by Aquashot/ASP Europe
